(CNN) – A 29-year-old YouTuber will plead guilty to federal charges after he intentionally destroyed the wreckage of a crashed plane to get views, officials said. announced on Thursday.
Trevor Daniel Jacob admitted to authorities that he planned to crash his plane in a video he shot to promote the wallet. He then collected the plane’s wreckage and removed it to hinder federal investigators from examining the crash site. A press release From the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
Jacobs, a pilot and skydiver, agreed to plead guilty to one count of destruction and concealment with intent to obstruct a federal investigation, the release said. CNN has reached out to Jacob’s attorney for comment.
The flight took place on November 24, 2021. Jacobs took off from Lombok City Airport in Santa Barbara County, but he did not intend to land the plane, he admitted in the plea agreement. Instead, he “planned to eject from his plane during the trip and filmed himself parachuting to the ground as his plane descended and crashed,” the release said.
Jacob placed several cameras in various parts of the plane and carried a parachute, video camera and selfie stick with him, according to the press release.
“Approximately 35 minutes later, while flying over the Los Padres National Forest near Santa Maria, Jacob was videotaped ejecting from the aircraft and parachuting to the ground,” it added.
From Trevor Jacon/YouTube
A screen grab from YouTuber Trevor Jacob’s video.
After recording the crash with a parachute on the ground, he climbed onto the wreckage and took video data of the crash with him, according to the release.
The YouTuber reported the crash to the National Transportation Safety Board two days later and agreed to share the wreckage. But instead he lied to authorities that he didn’t know where the crash site was, and approximately two weeks later, flew to the site with a friend, loaded the wreckage and then destroyed it, according to the release, which cited the plea agreement.
A month after the crash, he uploaded a video to YouTube called “I Crashed My Airplane”, showing the crash and Jacob parachuting out of the plane.
Some viewers were skeptical of the stunt, with many commenting that Jacob was already wearing a parachute, made no attempt to move the plane to a safe landing area, and took his camera and selfie stick with him when abandoning the plane.
“Jacob admitted in his plea agreement that he wanted to make money from the video,” the release added.
He admitted to lying to federal investigators after submitting a plane crash incident report, and falsely claimed that the plane lost all power half an hour after takeoff, the news release said.
“Jacob lied to a (Federal Aviation Administration) aviation safety inspector that the plane’s engine had failed and he parachuted out of the plane because he could not identify safe landing options,” it added.
The FAA revoked Jacob’s pilot’s license last year.
Jacob is expected to appear in court in the coming weeks.
